LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) – The play is called "Seminole." That's
Hilltopper for, "We play to win."

Willie Taggart isn't sure why that is the name. The quarterback
laterals to halfback. Halfback passes to quarterback. Quarterback dances into
the end zone.

The celebration goes on and on and on.

"It's one of those plays you draw up in the dirt," Taggart
said, smiling wildly.

Taggart believes Western Kentucky ran it during his senior
season with the Hilltoppers in 1998. Taggart tucked the play into his mind and
then brought it out at practice last Thursday. He told his players that when
they were in position to deliver the knockout blow against Kentucky, Seminole
would be the call.

For four quarters Saturday night, the Hilltoppers pushed
Kentucky up and down and all around the turf at Commonwealth Stadium. They
moved ahead in the first eight minutes and refused to let the Wildcats tie it
until only 24 seconds remained.

Overtime followed. Kentucky scored first – and then kicked
the extra point. Western Kentucky scored. There would be no kick on this extra
point. Taggart huddled his entire team – not just the offense – on the WKU
25-yard line.

The call was courageous. The call was defining. The call was
Seminole.

"It's time for Seminole," Taggart said. "You guys have been
wanting it. Let's do it – and win it. I wasn't nervous. We had nothing to lose."

WKU quarterback Kawaun Jakes stood in an empty backfield. He
lateraled the ball right to running back Antonio Andrews, who faked a burst
toward the goal line, stopped, planted and then floated a pass back toward
Jakes.

For a second even Taggart wondered if the pass was too soft.
Jakes eliminated that fear, scooping it out of the air and then dancing into
the left corner of the end zone.

"I hope this gets the community and everybody excited,"
Doyle said. "There should be a few people waiting for us in Bowling Green with
some fireworks."

The next thing you knew there were Western Kentucky football
players rolling around on the turf like Labrador retrievers, marking their spots.
Others reached into the crowd of about 4,000 Hilltoppers' fans to grab cell-phone
cameras to commemorate the moment. The band played and played and played.

"It's a landmark moment for the program," WKU athletics
director Todd Stewart said. "It validates that Willie is a man who believes in
his team. He believes in his players. He always has. He's never wavered even in
the tough times."

Taggart looked like the guy who set records as the WKU
quarterback, racing toward the sidelines and leaping into the crowd. He made
it.

His joy was so overpowering that he made a crack about red
being the new blue, a comment that UK coach Joker Phillips likely did not
appreciate. Phillips will probably be even
more annoyed when he learns that Taggart switched out a blue chair for a gray
one before he answered questions in the post-game press conference – and that
he wouldn't let any of his players sit in blue chairs either.

But with this loss Phillips has to be more concerned with
what his fans are saying than what Taggart is saying. What UK fans are saying
is this was a game Kentucky could not lose and this will be a loss Phillips
cannot survive, Kentucky's first football loss to WKU as well as a defeat that
makes Kentucky's journey to six victories and bowl eligibility more improbable
than it already was.

Western deserved to win. The Hilltoppers were the better
team. More physical. More determined. Better running game. Better run defense.
The Toppers were the Big Boy program, outrushing the Wildcats, 180-58, earning
10 rushing first downs to Kentucky's four.

And more fearless – as they proved beyond a reasonable doubt
when they roared their approval after Taggart announced it was time to run
Seminole and win this football game.

There will be plenty of time to analyze Phillips' difficult
future, especially with Florida (away on Saturday), South Carolina, Mississippi
State and Arkansas (away) looming on the Kentucky schedule.

This was Taggart's moment. He brought his program to
Lexington two years ago and lost, 63-28, one game in WKU's 26-game losing
streak. He started last season with four consecutive defeats, including a game
when WKU outplayed Kentucky in Nashville last season.

This time WKU outplayed Kentucky – and won, playing to win
on every call that Willie Taggart made. The Toppers have won nine of their last
11 games – and their only two defeats have been against Louisiana State and
Alabama, programs that play for national titles.

"I told our guys
before the game that it was our time," Taggart said. "We've been in the
spotlight quite a bit since we've been here. It's time for us to show everybody
what we've capable of."